Drunk in its stale airFor two hundred years.Fettered in mind and body,The soul, the safe escape

To let me breathe the criesOf my heart singingTears of mel-an-choly.

The tears flow free todayWashing the stains of bloodAnd sweat in brotherhood.

Raise the curtain then an'Let the world look inOn this promised land --We breathe free today.... almost.

--- Arshad M. Khan

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.--- Native American proverb

August 10, 2012

Mr. President: Two houses of worship were attacked this week, one widely reported, the other ignored by the mainstream media became known through the blogosphere.

The attack on the Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek (just outside Milwaukee) Wisconsin, left seven dead and many more injured. Despite the incident being identified as an act of domestic terrorism, the media continued to define the white perpetrator as a 'gunman' never a 'terrorist;. That label seems reserved for Muslims or Arabs, as in the case of the disturbed military psychiatrist who turned on fellow soldiers. And it is only when a perpetrator has a Muslim name is religion brought into focus. Philosophy professor Falguni Sheth has remarked upon the framing of these incidents to align them with our current prejudices, and columnist Glen Greenwald comments on the other incident, the burning and razing of the mosque in Joplin, Missouri (see the Commentary Articles section). Muslim residents of Joplin have had threatening graffiti painted on their homes. It was about a half century ago that black churches were being burned in the South, so the target has changed but not the thinking.

Our war on terror, principally against two Muslim countries, despite the lack of any connection between their populations and 9/11, has spawned a deluge of tracts on the internet trashing Muslims, their religion, and civilization. Never mind there are over a billion Muslims in this world with different sects, religious practices, cultures and traditions across a varied landscape as diverse as Christianity; no, these tracts, finding fertile ground in their audience's ignorance of world history or geography, treat Islam as a monolith of violence, trouble making and terrorism.

Reality, of course, is very different. We take for granted the algebra and Arabic numerals including the magical concept of zero passed on to us by Muslim mathematicians that now make it possible to read this piece on the internet. The same can be said for the sciences. Islamic philosophy's different branches examined questions of religion and reason: Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Rushd (Averroes, the founder of Averroism), and others who furthered Greek philosophy were instrumental in transmitting it to the Christian West; the torch of human knowledge continues to be passed on making life richer for us all.

The Olympics provide welcome relief from the troubles in our world. The women's 1500 meters had Muslim women (from Turkey and Bahrain) winning gold, silver and bronze medals. That such facts are seldom factored in by the media when it pounces on the veil is no longer surprising. That the Egyptian synchronized swimming team, despite the turmoil in Egypt, managed to beat out Australia; that the mixed doubles in the French Open has been won by an Indian Muslim woman also competing at the Olympics; that the top Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina is an ethnic Muslim Tatar, who won gold in the uneven bars; that rhythmic gymnast Aliya Garayeva from Azerbaijan is a world bronze medalist; that is all ignored when Muslim women are stereotyped in the media as without rights. Yes, a small minority, not unlike orthodox Jewish men in ringlets and long dark coats, choose to veil themselves, and if they want to they should. Why must their choice be criticized in a free society?

That the world record for the mile is held by a Moroccan; that Mohamed Farah is the 5000 and 10,000 meters world and likely Olympic champion; that Iran and Central Asian republics win a disproportionate number of Olympic wrestling medals; that is all ignored when a Muslim man attempts to board an airplane. Official sanction of stereotyping leads eventually to media and public bias. It is time to stop.

Sir, your condolence call to the Sikh community of Oak Creek was commendable. But the terrified and victimized Muslims of Joplin are still waiting.